Cutter head for corn cutting machines



1931- F. w. DOUTHITT CUTTER HEAD FOR CORN CUTTING MACHINES Filed June 27. 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Och 1931. F. w. DOUTHITT 1,828,547

CUTTER HEAD FOR! CORN CUTTING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 27, 1928 fijamia/ final J9! omZi/i Oct. 20,1931. F. w. oou'rm'rr CUTTER HEAD FOR CORN CUTTING mucnmgs Filed June 27. 1928 j 5 Sheets-Sheet s 5% 2 M E W Patented Oct. 20, 1931 iv p m axe.,sommfor mamas; ammo wes A s l'eteelfieesfilws a 'Mypresent invention has for its obj ect the" provision of ahighly etficient cutter head lntended for general use in cutting thek'ern'els e of corn from" thecobs and especially well is adapted for use in canning factories andthe I like during the preparation of green corn for canning or ')thervvise preserving the same. Said cutter head, while applicable to variousdifierent types of corn'cuttingima- 10 chines; is particularly. Well adapted for; use

in connection with "my 'corn )cuttlng 'machine, disclosed and broadly claimed in an pplication forlUnited States Letters Patent executed of even date herewith.- 16 -'-To the above endtheinventlon conslsts of the novel devioes and"combinations off described and definedgin' devices hereinafter the claim. 1

E lustrate the invention, like characters -indi-' cate' like parts" throughout the several views;

Referring to th drawin Fig.'--1is a rmgmenmryivlew partly inside elevation'a'nd partly inicentral vertical sec-1 '2 than of afcorn-cuttingmachinehaving the invention embodied therein; i

Fig-2 is a front elevation of one of the improved cutter'head's 4 Fig. 3 is a-vlew partly in elevation andtaken:

'30; partly in} transverse vertical section on theline 3 -3 of 'Fig', 1;? I

Fig. 4: is a view corresponding to Fig." 3'- 'withdthe exception that 'someparts are removed and further ishovving an ear of corn in'the cutter head; I 4v :7

A Fig. 5 is a'vievv principallyin sectiontaken t ne 5-5 of Fi .4;

- Fig.6 is a View principally'in sectiontaken M. on theline 6 6 of"Fig'.I5

' Fi 7s a perspective view bi sneer the sections of the depth gau e and 1 connected cutterblad'e;

I Fig; 8 is a perspective vievv of one of the i sections of the depth gauge; and

Fig.9 is a front elevatl of shown'in Fig 7.

Of the parts-of the corn cutting machine illustrate'dand wvhich is the subject matter" of the application heretofore referred to,it

' isonly necessary to note the innerandouter' In' the accompanying drawings which ildrums 9- and '10, the former of which is fixed and the latter of Which-is mounted torotate about the axis of said fixed drum? In the, periph'ei yfof theouter drum 10 and extending longitudinally thereof is a plurality of circumferentially spaced pockets 11, only one o f whiohfis shown, forpositioning ears of corn tobefed to-cutter heads, as will hereinafter appear. A retaining spring 12 yieldinglyholds'the ears of corn w in the pockets" I 11:"whi1ethey "are? being fed to thecutter heads.

."l or feach pocket 11' is a f'eed device moving-the ears of corn: w in said pockets 11 to]: the cutter heads; n These feed devices 13- are slid'ab-ly mountedon fixed shafts 14 car-T r-ied by the drum lOand which feed devices extendv into the pockets 11 through longitudinal slots' 15 in the bottoms thereof. A fixed endless chan el cam 16 on the periphery of the fixed drum 9 is provided for reciprocating the feed device's-l3 under the rotation of the? drunmlO. 1 Referring now Which are the subject matter of'the present invention; each thereof includes an annular head in detail to the cutter headsr plate 17;Which extends parallel to the outer face-of-the'head of lthe drum 10, is rigidly" Secured thereto and held spaced outward therefrom by a pairof anchoring bolts 18; p Thesecutterhead's are located at thedelivery ends if the pockets ll vviththe'axesof their tionsof saidl-evers. fiThese cutter blades 21 p are formed, transversely concave and have long oblique'cutting'edges '22. -Said cutter.v

blades 21 are removabl mounted I in transverse seats "24 in the levers 19Yby" providing saidjbl'adesvvith' tap'ered tan'gs' 28 which have dove-tailed interlocking" engagement jwith said seats, as 'bestshovvn inFig 7 Q In additionto the wedge action. that secures the'tangs 23in the seats 24:, the cutter blades 21 are-further securedflto" the levers 19 a i v by' set screws 25 that have threaded'engagement with-said levers, extend into the seats m 24: and impinge against said tangs. The cutter blades 21 are held by the levers 19 in circumferentially spaced arrangement for contracting and expanding movements about the projected axis of the head plate 17 For causing the cutter blades 21 to move simultaneously in respect to a common axis for expanding or contracting. movementsto vary the size of the passageway therebetween for action on ears of corn of different sizes, the levers 19 are connected by an annular shift ring 26. This shift ring 26 is mounted in an annular channel 27 in the outerface' of the head plate 17 and is connected to the the cutter" blades 21 are contracted. tothe smallest diameter of the passageway therebetween.

' (lo-operating with the cutter blades 21 is a cylindrical depth gauge 31 automatically controlledby an ear of corn passing therethrough to said cutter blades. This depth gauge 31 comprises circumferentially spaced sections,

the-inner faces of which are transversely concave "and have flaring rece ving endsfor the ears of corn that are fed thereto from the pockets 11. These sections of the depth gauge 31 are individually carried by curved I arms 32 integrally formed with the inner end portions of the levers 19.

To vary the depth of cut made by the cutter blades 21, the sections of the depth gauge 31 are mounted for radial adjustment in respect to the axis of the passageway between the cutting blades 21' and through the depth gauge 31. ,As one means for thus mounting ihe sections of the depth gauge31 eachsection thereof is provided with an outwardly,

. and radially extended extension 33. slidably mounted in a channel seat 34 in the respec tive arm. 32. .A binding screw. 35 extends between the prongs of the extension 33,. has v screw-threaded engagement with the arm 32* with its head impinging against said extension and frictionally clamps the extension 33 in its seat 34. By reference to Fig. 9, it will be noted that the cutter blades 21 and depth gauge 31 are concentric.

To improve the appearance of the cut ker-.

nels of corn particularly when put up in glass jars for displaypurposeasaid kernels are cut by the slitting knives 36 longitudinally of the cob just in advance of the cutter blades 21. As shown, there is a plurality of these slit ting knives 36 ;carried by each section of the depth gauge 31. These slitting knives 36 are.

radially extended and circumferentially spaced about the passageway in the depth gauge 31 and mounted in notch-like seats 37 in said sections for endwise adjustment radially in respect to said passageway. Said slitting knives 36 have oblique cutting edges 38 and 39 and are adj ustably but rigidly held in the iseatsi3f7 by segmental clrarnping plates 38 which rest on the backs of said knives and are secured by screws 39 to the extensions 33 which'fiictionaily clamp said knives in their seats 37.

' By endwise adjusting the slitting knives 36, the depth towhich the kernels of corn are cut, as shown in Fig. 6, may be varied at will. These slitting knives 36 may :be readily removed from the depth gauge 31 in case'lhe kernels are to be left whole. n i

The operation of the above described cut-. ter head may Joe briefly described as follows: The ears of corn on are placed in the pockets .11 by theoperator ofthe machine, as fully described intheapplication heretofore referred to, with the little endsof the ears projecting toward the cutterheadaoneof which is shown in Fig. 1. Upon the-placing of the ears of corn a inflthe seats 11, the feed devices .13

move the. same longitudinally in said seats and inject thesame into. the flaring endof the depth gauge 31 and thereby expand said gauge to permit the ears of corn to pass therero g As the ear moves through the depth gauge, the slitting knives 36 and cutter blades 21 are automatically positioned thereby and the former slit thekernels of the corn and the lat ter thereafter cut the same from the cob. The

oblique cutting edgesof the slitting qknives 3.6 freely pass through the kernels of corn longitudinallyof the cob and the cutter blades 21 at their obliquecuttinged-ges 21 spirally out the kernels from the cob to the desired' depth with a drawing action and the ear-is movedendwise by the feed device 13. At the completion of the cutting of the kernels from the cob, said cob is ejected from thecutter' head by the feed device 13.-

Obv1ously,.the cutter blades 21 be readily removed from theilevers 19 forfthe or substituting new blades therefor. Likewise the slitting knives 36 maybe readilyv removed from the depth gauge or adjusted-to vary the depth of the cut thereof. It is also evident that the sections of the depth gauge 31 may be readily adjusted in respect to the cutter blades 21 to vary the depth to which thg blades cut the kernels of corn from the co During the passage. of an ear of corn device, the spring 30-, acting on the shift ring 36, yieldingly holds the sections ofthe depth free expanding and contracting movements 130 gauge 31 in contact with the tear and permits purpose of repairing or sharpening-the same} through the cutter head by the respective feed;

thereof so as to freely follow the contour of the ear both longitudinally and circumferen-f ,tially for the removal of all of the kernels therefrom to thedesired depth without undue waste.

What I claim is: I v

A cutter head for a corn cuttingmachine comprising a non-rotating supporting plate having a central opening therethrough, a series of levers pivotallyattached to said sup-r porting plate and movable in a plane parallel with the face of the supporting plate, each lever at'its inner end having a seat for a cutter'blade, a cutter blade having a supporting tan attached to the seat on each lever, each bla e being narrow and spirally arranged to form a cutting cylinder, said lever having arms thereon proJecting in front of the cut ting blades, a depth gage supported on each arm and shiftable radially of the cutter head to different set positions on said arms, said supporting plate having an annular channel formed in one, face thereof inwardly from the I peripheral edge of said plate, a ring disposed in said annular channel, devices carried by said ring and connected to said levers for shifting the levers simultaneously to contract 1 or expand the cutting cylinder, and'spring 7 means connected to said ring andrhaving c0nnection with said plate for shifting said ring so as to yieldingly hold the cutting blades their contracted position.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

FRANK DOUII-II'FI; 

